THE girlfriend of a man accused of murder lied to police because, she claimed in court yesterday, they subjected her to “bullying and duress”.

Nina Sayyah told Newport Crown Court officers threatened her with a seven-year jail term for accessory to murder and said her child would be taken away after partner Carl Drummond was arrested.

Drummond, 36, of Attlee Court, George Glover, 39, of Graham Court and Shahid Rafiq, 36, of Bryn-yr-Ysgol, all of Caerphilly, are on trial after they denied murdering and conspiring to rob Newport dad Tony Singh.

The jury was told the trio attacked Mr Singh last November after they earlier handed over £100 to another man for what they believed was heroin, but was actually beef powder.

Ms Sayyah said in a statement afterwards she knew the men wanted their money back and sawthem take a metal bar from a cupboard in Drummond’s flat before leaving her and another witness, Tim Burrows, there.

But giving evidence yesterday, she denied all knowledge of that and dismissed parts of her statement as “utter rubbish”.

“There’s no way I told them that,” she said. “I told them I was sat on the floor in the middle (of the living room), near the coffee table, and I could not see if that cupboard was open or closed.”

Asked by prosecutor Paul Lewis why she lied, Ms Sayyah said she was petrified when officers said police were waiting outside to arrest her and simply “run with what they said”.

But there was no plan to rob anyone before Drummond, Glover and Rafiq left that night and she was left with the impression the man attacked had walked away, she added.

Jurors previously heard DNA matching Mr Singh’s was found on a metal bar recovered from Drummond’s home.

(Proceeding)